Manager Paul Cox believes our players have found some consistency as we picked up maximum points with a gritty 3-2 victory over Carlisle United at One Call Stadium.

Our team were flying at half-time, as we led 3-0 courtesy of Lee Beevers’ early header and a double from Rakish Bingham, but the visitors courageously fought back in the second half.

Goals by David Amoo and Kyle Dempsey set up a tense finale and Sky Bet League Two’s club threw everything forward in search of a late equaliser, but we survived the pressure to record an excellent three points.

The win isn’t quite enough for us to jump into the play-off places, but it completes a very positive week which has seen us take six points out of a possible six on home soil.

Speaking afterwards, Cox said: “I thought in the first half our performance was good. It could have been better, but I thought we scored three good goals.

“We had a talk at half-time about these kind of games and how they can lull you into a false sense of security. I thought Carlisle were excellent in the second half. They showed a great resolve and a great desire to get back into the game and sometimes you have to congratulate a team for that.”

Our boss continued: “But we’ve just won another match. It’s what I called on [the players] to do - to win matches consistently. We’re not going to play brilliantly every game or have our own way all the time, but the boys are winning.

“Their work-ethic and the desire of the players, especially when we came under the cosh late on, was immense. Players were throwing themselves in front of shots and crosses and defending well.

“We lost another player through injury, but we got on with it and won another football match. The unity in our dressing room is immense,” added Cox. “The boys are in it together and we’ll continuously be like that.”

Paul Cox’s full post-match interview will be available on Stags Player later tonight. To subscribe, click here.

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Back-to-back wins can’t halt the Stags boo boys
chad.co.uk

Mansfield Town may have made it back-to-back wins in five days to go eighth in League Two and held off a superb second half fightback from Carlisle United to win 3-2, but still some fans chose to boo instead of back manager Paul Cox and his players.

Stags were 3-0 up and sitting pretty by the break, but bottom-placed United, with former Stags manger Keith Curle at the helm for the first time, hit back superbly after the break to score twice and make a real game of it.

Stags were also hit by losing midfielder Chris Clements with a hamstring injury just after the break.

But the boos began when Cox withdrew tiring striker Rakish Bingham, who had earlier bagged a brace, and as the home crowd became more anxious under the intense pressure, there were more boos for striker Matt Rhead after he failed to hold the ball up a couple of times.

However, Cox said: “To say anything about our second half would be disrespectful to a very big club who were in League One last year.

“Our first half performance was good but could have been better, though we scored three very good goals.

“But I told them at half-time that the 3-0 lead could be a false sense of security and the first 15 minutes would be important.

“Carlisle showed a great resolve and desire to get back into in the match. Sometimes you have to congratulate another team on their performance rather than pick holes in your own team.

“We have just won a football match and moved just outside the play-offs, yet it all feels like doom and gloom.

“Sometimes this club doesn’t seem to enjoy winning. We have just won two home games on the bounce this week. We are Mansfield Town, not Manchester United. Sometimes you just have to remember where we are and who we are.

“These lads are working extremely hard for this football club and we are enjoying it. If other people don’t want to enjoy it that’s up to them.

“Take a look below us at the bigger clubs with bigger resources.

“The boys’ work ethic and desire is tremendous and when we were under the cosh late on they were throwing themselves in front of crosses and shots. I am very proud of them all and this football club should be proud of them.”

New Carlisle boss Keith Curle saw enough in that second half to underline his belief that he can turn the club’s fortunes around.

“I will work with them morning, noon and night, double training sessions,” he said. “The second half showed there is potential there.

“If I can get these players going and the supporters onside, we can be a force to be reckoned with.

“I want to give the players confidence. I will give them a remit to go out there and express themselves.

“My teams play with no fear. They will make mistakes, but they will be honest mistakes.

“At 3-0 down at half-time I told them all I wanted from them was to see if they could come off at the end, look me in the eye and tell me they’d had a go. Fair play to them, to a man they did that.

“In the first half we looked intimidated, shy, and as if we didn’t want to make any mistakes.

“But in the second half the lads gave everything and our supporters making the long journey home will take heart from that second half.”

To read the match report click HERE

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Paul Cox on Mansfield Town: This football club, sometimes, they don't enjoy winning. I don't know what it is.
Nottingham Post, by Sarah Clapson

MANAGER Paul Cox was at a loss to explain sections of the home crowd who didn't get behind Mansfield Town in the closing stages of their 3-2 win over bottom club Carlisle United.

Experienced full-back happy to get on the score-sheet and claim an assist in 3-2 win over the Cumbrians.

Mansfield Town put in a gutsy performance to beat Sky Bet League Two strugglers Carlisle United this afternoon, winning 3-2 in a closely-fought contest.

One of the stand-out performers in the game was full-back Lee Beevers, who opened the scoring with a well-placed header in the fourth minute and then claimed an assist with a magnificent 60-yard run and subsequent pass to Rakish Bingham for our third goal.

On his goal, just his second since joining us in June 2012, he said "It wasn't too much. If you put me in the box this year, I will get you a goal.

"I'm used to going in the box previously, so it's nothing new to me and I'm comfortable going in there, so I just took the ball and it managed to beat the ‘keeper and go into the net.”

Although a spirited fight-back by Carlisle caused a nerve-jangling finale, our team held on to their lead in the closing stages to record an important victory and Beevers was particularly pleased with the result.

He continued: "We followed it on from Tuesday[‘s win over Morecambe]. We thought Tuesday was excellent. Unfortunately we couldn't score early on, we had to be patient and do it right at the end.

“We continued that right into the first half today, but the second half was a little bit different. We obviously did enough in the first half and held on in the second.

"The first 15 minutes of the second half was always going to be important. They got their tails up and obviously scored a goal, so from there it was just going to be a battle. We just had to be resolute and just hold out.

"You can't come out and think that it's too easy and the job's done. You almost need to come out and think it's the first half all over again and it's 0-0.”

As a whole, Beevers is pretty pleased with the progress our team are making currently and is optimistic for the near future.

"We've had a not too bad start to the season really. We just need to keep pushing on and carry on what we're doing,” he concluded.

Lee Beevers’ full post-match interview will be available on Stags Player tonight. To subscribe, click here.

Striker Rakish Bingham was delighted to score his first goals at One Call Stadium - a feat which helped him win the sponsors’ man of the match accolade - in today’s gripping 3-2 victory over Carlisle United.

The 20-year-old striker was cool, calm and composed as he scored twice in the space of five minutes towards the end of the first half - goals which proved absolutely crucial by the full-time whistle.

Bingham’s first strike was a cute finish from a tight angle following an excellent cross by full-back Liam Marsden, whilst his second goal was a blistering 20-yard strike from the edge of the area, after a magnificent 60-yard run by our other full-back, Lee Beevers.

Speaking afterwards, the young frontman had nothing but admiration for Beevers and how well he did in helping to set him up for the aforementioned goal.

Bingham said: "It was brilliant from Beevers. He broke his neck to run half the length of the pitch and then pulled it back to me, so I just made sure I hit the target - it was a bit of a ‘shin roller’ but they all count.

He continued: "As a striker, you've got to keep getting chances. It's good for your confidence. Even though I've had a few chances, I haven't been putting them away, but as long as I keep getting them and keep getting chances, I've always got a chance to score."

With regards to being awarded Man of the Match, Bingham couldn't contain his excitement, adding: "I'm delighted to get Man of the Match. It's always good to get the three points.

"We can't ask for more. We give the supporters what they want and after a few wins, we are higher up the table."

Our team now occupy eighth position in Sky Bet League Two - level on points with seventh-placed Cheltenham Town, but below them on goal difference.

Looking towards the future, Bingham said: "The team spirit that we have here is unbelievable. Everyone knows when we go out onto the pitch, we always believe and have a chance of winning, home or away.

“As long as we keep starting sharp like we are doing, then we have a chance of taking the three points."

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Hero Bingham happy to back among the goals
chad.co.uk

Rakish Bingham turned in a man of the match display with a crucial brace of goals to see off plucky Carlisle United 3-2 yesterday with boss Paul Cox insisting there is much more to come from the exciting former Wigan youngster.

Bingham netted twice in four minutes late in the half after Lee Beevers had sent Stags on their way with a fourth minute header.

But the bottom placed visitors hit back strongly in the second half and almost pulled off a sensational comeback for new boss, ex-Stags manager Keith Curle, but could only pull back two as Mansfield clung on at the death.

“I was delighted to get man of the match and help the team to a win to move up the table,” smiled Bingham.

“The goals are good for my confidence as I have had a few chances lately that I’ve not put away.

“Whenever Matt Rhead goes up for a header, he takes one or two men with him which leaves me room and I put the first in at the back post.

“Lee Beevers’ run for the second was brilliant. He ran almost the length of the pitch. My finish was a bit of a shin roller, but they all count.

“The gaffer told us at half-time that Carlisle would come out all guns blazing. They put us under the cosh for the majority of the second half. But, as a team we battled well and ground out a result. The team spirit here is unbelievable.”

Manager Cox said: Rakish has scored two today that were harder than the ones that haven’t gone in over the last three games.

“He is still not fully fit and we won’t see the best of him for another month. He’s not had a proper pre-season so he is playing catch-up. He will only get better.”

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MANAGER: My teams don't play with fear
carlisleunited.co.uk

New manager Keith Curle with Mansfield Town reaction

United manager Keith Curle gave us his reaction to his first game in charge at Mansfield Town on Saturday.

“The first 45 minutes was very much the old Carlisle United, as far as I’m concerned,” he added. “The second half has got to be the new Carlisle United. I think that goes for the crowd as well. They were feeling very deflated because of the first half but the performance in the second gave them reason for hope. The buoyancy from the away crowd as they tried to get that third goal for us was absolutely phenomenal. A lot of work went into that second half from everybody.”

“It’s difficult when you walk into a football club on a Friday afternoon because you just don’t have that much time,” he explained. “When you then walk in 3-0 down at half time in the game, all you can do is identify faults. You need to try to find a bit of direction for them. I told them that they were going to lose and I wanted them to show me what they were about.

“I didn’t want anyone to be in a position where they couldn’t look me in the eye when they walked off the field. The minimums we require at this club are effort, commitment, desire and application.”

“We obviously only got the one training session with the players,” he said. “We had a look at what the previous staff had been doing, and at the organisation and discipline, but you’re not going to walk in the day before the game and try and change everything. We tried to match Mansfield up and we told the lads to go out and compete man for man.”

“What we want to do is give the players a platform to play from,” he continued. “If you analyse the three goals then you see they were all soft. Balls have been put in the box and we haven’t dealt with them.

“However, you have to give credit to Mansfield because they have shown the desire to get onto things and the ball has run for them. Without that desire you don’t get the luck that comes with it. Everything you get in this game you have to earn and that process starts for us on Monday morning. We will build on that second 45 minutes, we’ll add ability to the willingness we’ve seen and we’ll go from there.”

On the game itself, he said: “I thought Kyle Dempsey was superb. David Amoo was excellent when he came on. The big man Mark Beck was fantastic when he came on as well. He challenged for everything and he gave us a big, physical presence. Danny Grainger played his position well at the back and Troy [Archibald-Henville] was a real man for us. I’ve been told he’s a player who needs to be managed but he’s one we will get onto the playing surface as often as we can.

“We had a team which looked shy and intimidated in the first half. They clearly didn’t want to make mistakes and they have to accept that, on a football pitch, mistakes will happen sometimes. As I say, I wanted to find out if they would be able to look me in the eye when they walked off the pitch at full time. They’ve had a go for me and they’ve answered a few questions.

“I think, if you look at the foundations of this football club, you see it’s a really good place. If I can get the supporters onside with the players then we will be a force to be reckoned with. To do that we will need to give the players the confidence they need to go out and play.

“That will come from giving them a remit to express themselves. I could spend hours and hours picking the first half performance apart, because it’s one I won’t forget for a long time, but I’ve also got 45 minutes after the break which will stay with me for all of the right reasons.”

“This is a job we will work at morning, noon and night until we get it right,” he insisted. “We’ll have them doing double training sessions, but it won’t all be physical. A lot of it will be mental work and making sure we analyse our strengths and our weaknesses. The second half showed us this team has potential and that’s what we will focus on.

“My teams don’t play with fear. They go out and they try to express themselves. You expect players to make mistakes in the second division but you can deal with that as long as they are honest. The crowd stuck with us because they saw the response from the players and I hope they go away feeling they have seen signs of better things to come.

“I said when I came in that I wanted to take a look at everybody before I started to make decisions. There is room for manoeuvre but nobody will leave this football club until I’ve seen what they’ve got. If I then feel I need to bring better players in, and that will be in my opinion, then I will do so.

“I need the players to buy into me and these lads know the first half wasn’t acceptable. On another day we might have nicked a draw with the way we responded, but the reason we didn’t get anything is that we gave them a three goal start. We don’t need to be doing that in future. That stops.”

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Liam Marsden @LiamMarsden94
Delighted with two assists today, made it a battle but we came out with 3 points! Happy days!!!

Fergus @fergus_bell
Another solid win! And what a goal from the new striker.... @BeeLeevers! #Shoulderfriend

JAMIE MCGUIRE @JAMIEMCGUIRE23
Game off 2 halfs we dug deep 2nd half But all that matter is 3 points great win and fans stuck by us roll on Saturday @mansfieldtownfc

Dimitar Evtimov @DimiEvtimov
Another good win today! Thanks to the fans for the great support once again! @ReuschUK #stags pic.twitter.com/UrEtsHoxBz

Martin Riley @LifeofRiley6
Talk about making hard work of it! 3 points is what matters! Back to back wins is what we needed. Well done boys #stags

Reggie Lambe @ReggieNaldo
Glad to make my debut today. Good fight from all the lads. #3pts #stags #YellowArmy